Knitting method



5 March 1s, 1941. N, F AHR 2,235,455

KNITTING METHOD Filed June 22, 1939 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 v Patented Mar. 18,1941 UNITED sfr/iras lrnvrrrlNc. METHOD Nicholas F. Lahr, St. Joseph,Mich., assigner to Cooper, Wells & C0., St. Joseph, Mich., a corporationof Michigan Application June 22, 1939, serial Nq. 280,580

1 Claim.

5. related fields where knitting with relatively fine yarn or thread iseffected.

In womens hosiery, particularly the fullfas`h` ioned variety,considerable difficulty has been encountered due to the fact that theknitted material is subjected to considerable strain at the knee whenthe wearer sits down. Hosiery of this character is made of relatively-fine silk thread with a high twist. In addition to the ordinarystretching which the fabric must undergo, the eXtra stretching due tobending ofthe leg atthe knee' while maintaining the stocking tauthas'rre-V suited in straining the threads beyond their lim-4 it causingsuch threads to break and starting runs.

Various expedients have been relied upon to introduce an elastic andstretchable intermediate section which will yield sufliciently to takeup the extra stretching of the stocking. Thus the more common expedientsinclude picot work at intervals or the` knitting of a mesh foraccomplishing the same purpose.

As is well known in the art, hosiery made of Y silk for women isgenerally knitted from silk thread or yarn, each of which is composed ofanywhere from two to seven or even more fine silk filaments. Inaccordance with this inven'- tion, the naterial is knittedon a fiat bedknitting machine of the'usual typehaving at least three yarn .carriersfor the main body of the stocking. It is understood, of course, that anyodd number of carriers may be utilized. As-

suming that three carriers are used, one carrierv feeds an elasticthread while the other two carriers feed silk threads. The elasticportion is knitted in the stocking, preferably just below the welt,although any other location may be provided.

In accordance with this invention, I preferably use an elastic yarn, oneform'ofwhich is available in the trade under the name of Lastex andgenerally consisting of a rubber filament-wound with fabric such assilk, cotton or any other ma terial. This composite thread, hereinafterre'- ferred to as an elastic thread, is preferably of Aa size of thesame order as the silk thread used in the knitting of the stocking.

In the actual knitting, it is understood ot' course that the thread oryarn is operated upon while in a moist condition. In the event thatcotton covered rubber is used as the elastic (Cl. (i6- 96) thread withtwo or more silk threads as the others, it may be necessary to use somevegetable oil rather than water for moistening the various threads. Thuscottonseed or soya bean oil may beused for moistening the elastic threadand then the knitted article cleaned with a suitable oil solvent toremove the oil. In the event that oil is used, it is preferable to leaveit in the thread as short a timeas possible to prevent any undesirableaction on the rubber. Of course, any of the oil resistant rubbers may beusedas the core of the elastic thread in which case no specialprecautions on oil removal are necessary.

If the elastic thread is silk 'covered or covered `with some othermaterial which does not absorb excessive amounts of water, then theconventional Water moistening may be relied upon. g A band having anynumber of courses may be provided in accordance with theV followingplan. For practical purposes ina womans stocking this band should be atleast about one inch in width and preferably greater. This stretchableband consists of the following in the order of knit ting: one or moresilk threadA courses of c011- ventional knitting, then one course ofelastic thread of conventional knitting, then a course of silk threadlwith the loops elongated or loosened,v then a silk thread course ofordinary size loops joined to the loose loops in a picot fashion so thattwo loose loops are caught by oneV ordinary loop. After this `course ofsilk thread, the elastic thread course may be repeated, or if desired,additional silk courses may be repeated prior to the elastic threadcourse.

'I'he elongated loops are preferably of such a size that in the normalcondition of the'nished fabric the distance between the two adjacentcourses having the picot interloops is `about the same as between everyother normally spaced loop. Hence in a gauge machine, there are thirtyneedles to the inch and sixty threads per inch. By elongating the loopsas above and providing a .picot interloop, a space of about onethirtiethof an inch is produced between the picot interlooped courses. The spacehas about the same dimension 1along the course due to the halving of thenumberof actively engaged loops.

It is understood, of course, that the figures given aboveareillustrative and may be varied within wide limits. Thus two interloopedcourses of elastic thread may be provided or several sets of picot'interlooped courses may be provided or both in combination may beprovided. Another factor having substantial bearing on the loop size isthe relative sizes of elastic 'and silk thread. An elastic thread, heavyin comparison to the silk thread, will naturally tend to pull down thesilk loops when the tension on the elastic thread is released.Furthermore, the slightest pull on the knitted fabric in any directiontends to distort the loops and proportions between loose loop and normalloop sizes.

- I have observed that the knitted fabric made in accordance with myinvention yields equally well in all directions. Thus, when tensionalong the course length is present, the elastic thread tends tostraighten out and lpulls the loose loops longer. When tensiontransverse to the course length is present, the loose loops tend to pullthe elastic threads out from the course. In practice, both the looseloops and elastic thread yield due to the tendency of the fabric tonarrow when lengthened and vice versa. With a pattern of course asdescribed, an elastic mesh\ is provided which yields substantially inall directions.

In the knitting operation it is preferred to have the elastic threadwith just enough tension to prevent sagging of the thread. In practicethe elastic thread has. a diameter equal to or about two or threektimesthat of the silk thread so that the loops of elastic may be somewhatthicker than the silk loops.

The invention here is restricted to knitting with fine thread or yarn ofthe order of 42 gauge or more, it being understood that this numberrepresents the number of needles for an inchand a half. It is furtherunderstood that the knitting is restricted to the at work used in themanufacture of full fashioned hosiery, for example.

The actual carrying out of this process on a knitting machine of theflat bed type is obvious after the pattern of courses and picots hasbeen determined upon. v Inasmuch as a standard knitting machine is used,no specific description of the machine willbe made apart from thegeneral figure shown in the drawings.

Referring to the drawings:

Figure 1 shows a view of a womans hose;

Fig. 2 shows a detail enlarged view of the elastic band with a portionof the edge;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged detail view of .an elastic thread; and

Fig. 4 is a diagrammatic view of a. fiat-bed knitting machine head.

Referring to Fig. 1 there is shown ahose having a leg portion IIJ withfoot portion II and an elastic section I2 which is supported between legshown in Fig. 4./ This head comprises the usual frame portion I5carrying a bank of needles I6 and points I1 and is provided with threeyarn carriers I8, I9 and 20. A minimum of three yarn carriers isnecessary for carrying out this invention. However, this number may beincreased by units of two to any other odd number of yarn carriers.

The yarn carriers I8, I9 and 20 each pull the yarn or thread throughsuitable moistening means I, 2 and 3 such as cups with wicks. Themoistening medium, as pointed out before, may be'water or vegetable oilsor any other preparations well known in the art.

Two of the yarn carriers, as for example, I8 and I9 in Fig. 2, haveordinary silk thread or yarn. Yarn carrier 20 is adapted to supplyelastic thread, a small section of which is shown in enlarged detail inFig. 3. This elastic thread comprises a core 2I of rubber upon which iswound a silk or any other fabric thread 22 in one direction and ifnecessary a. second thread 23 superimposed on 22 andwound in theopposite direction. Inasmuch as such threads are well known in the art,further description is unnecessary.

Referring to Fig. 2, Athere is shown a course 25 of silk thread with theloops knitted in a normal manner. Engaging the loops of course 25 is acourse 26 of elastic thread. This is followed by a course 21 oi silkthread whose loops are elongated and interlooped with the next course 28in a picot fashion. Thus two loose loops of course 21 are engaged by oneloop of course 28. After silk course 28, which is a conventional courseas far as loop size is concerned, an elastic thread course 29 followsand then a loose silk course 30, similar to course 21. As shown indotted outline, course 25 may be knitted by thread from carrier IB,while courses 26 and 21 are supplied by carriers 20 and t9 respectively.As indicated by the arrow, the courses as given above are in the orderof knitting.

It will be noted from Fig. 2 that the elasticsection or band is dividedby a line into the elastic portion proper 33 and a se'lvage pcrtion 3l.The

knitting in the selvageis preferably carried out in a. regular loopformation on all courses with no picot work at all. It is understood, ofcourse,

that if desired the picot work can be extended to the very edge of theknitted fabric; but in order to provide a strong section for seaming, itis preferred to provide the portion 34 as shown.

' plurality of courses of ordinary knittinglwith the silk prior to thepicot part. This, however, may lbe varied to suit individual needs.

As previouslypointed out during the knitting operation it is preferredto supply the elastic thread under just enough tension to preventsagging. If the elastic 'thread is tensioned excessively there is somedanger of snagging of the needle as well as a puckering of the finishedfabric. However, under certain conditions it may be advisable to supplythe elastic thread under some tension. y

vIt is understood that the proportions in loop shown on the drawings andgiven by way of example are merely suggestive. Because of handlingmaterials which yield readily, it is diilicult and unnecessary to setforth precise details. Uniformty in any one product is necessary butvariations among the products is permissible.

What is claimed is:

A` method of flat knitting a strain absorbing section in a stocking withfine yarn on a machine having a needle gauge of at least 42 whichcomprises knitting one course with yarn, knitting a vsucceeding coursewith an elastic thread with all last yarn course being the iirst yarncourse in a succeeding cycle.

NICHOLAS F. LAHR.

